Ukiah Post office mural restored and ready to return

A large mural that hung in the lobby of the former Ukiah Post Office on North Oak Street has been restored and will hopefully be returning to Ukiah soon, according to the United States Postal Service.

USPS Spokesman James Wigdel said the Works Progress Administration mural, painted in 1936, was taken off its wall after the post office closed in January of 2012 and brought to Chicago, where it underwent a "thorough restoration" and is now in storage.

"The mural will be returning to the community, we hope in the near future," Wigdel said. "Once we find a location, the postal service will be bringing it to the community and having it installed. It's a beautiful mural, with a lot of historical value, and it absolutely belongs in the community."

Wigdel said he is working with Rep. Jared Huffman (D - San Rafael) to determine the best location for the mural, and Huffman's local representative Heidi Dickerson told him that two locations have been offered: Ukiah's Civic Center on Seminary Avenue and the Mendocino County Administration Building on Low Gap Road.

Wigdel said the next step will be to have both locations send a proposal that includes photographs of both the inside and the outside of the buildings.

"Each party should send their recommended location and a brief summary as to how the mural would fit their building," Wigdel said.

At Wednesday's meeting of the Ukiah City Council, Council member Mary Anne Landis said she suggested to Dickerson that the mural could hang in the foyer at the civic center, at least temporarily.

"Longterm, it would be nice to see it at the courthouse," Landis said, referring to the potential new county courthouse that may be built near the Ukiah Railroad Depot. "In the meantime, we have to write a quick letter saying we're interested. I could write that letter and put it on the agenda (for our next meeting)."

Wigdel said the mural would likely only be installed once more.

"We would prefer to put it in a permanent location," he said, explaining that moving the mural once would reduce expenses and the risk of damaging it. He said he could not speak to how much the mural's restoration cost or how much it would cost to install it.

He also could not estimate when the mural might be returning, but that "once a location is finalized, we will install the mural as quickly as possible."

Justine Frederiksen can be reached at udjjf@ukiahdj.com, on Twitter @JustFrederiksen or at 468-3521.